


Delicious

by Airuna



Series: Shadowhunters Oneshots [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 3x03 coda, Alec and Iz are very sweet children, Big Brother Alec, Flashback, Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Lightwoods don’t know how to cook, Maryse loves her children, Maryse tries her best though she is pretty missguided, angst if you squint, herself not so much, kind of, maryse pov, pre-Jace, third person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 08:32:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airuna/pseuds/Airuna
Summary: The obligatory flashback with Alec and Izzy presenting their mom with the stew.





	Delicious

**Author's Note:**

> 3x03 killed me! And I love Maryse more with every episode so I had to write this! I hope you like it. Thanks to alecisgay for beta’ing.

Her wrist hurt but Maryse ignored it, there was work to do after all. Documents to sign, people to direct, demons to hunt, Downworlders to keep in line. They had been lucky, after all, getting the New York institute. And Robert was a sweet man but he didn’t have what it took to lead it. He was more of a follower, most of their friends were, which was what had made it so easy to convince them, to _recruit_ them. But she could not think about that. Not now. She had work to do.

Her mother had always praised her dedication.

Her mother.

But her mother was dead.

It was fine, really. At least Maryse could no longer disappoint her. And it was only fitting that the last person who thought of her as the child she had been (the child that had been the most promising fighter of her generation, the child that had wanted to do something, to fix everything, the child whose passion had shone bright enough to blind) was no longer around. After all, that child had died long ago and her blood was on the hands that were rearranging the papers in front of her.

She picked up the pen, schooling her face to avoid a wince. It was far better for her subordinates to think her in a bad mood than in pain. After all she didn’t know how many of them answered to the Clave, to Imogene, and were waiting for her to make a mistake to take everything away. Recruiting Céline and Stephan hadn’t been her brighter move but she’d rather die before she let the Inquisitor punish her children for it. The Institute was their future, Alec’s future, and Maryse would protect it with everything she was.

But maybe she should draw an iratze to fix her overworked wrist. She didn’t mind pain but it was slowing her down. And she would have to activate her nourishment and stamina runes again at some point anyway. She frowned, remembering the conversation she had had with Alec the day before. Maybe she had been too harsh on the boy. After all, Hodge had been the one who had told him that runes could only do so much and that even the mightiest shadowhunter needed sleep and food. And the sweet, observant boy had just been worried about her. But she couldn’t afford to be questioned by a child in front of everyone, to be undermined by her prepubescent son.

She had been softer later, when the boy had come to apologize in the office. Maybe too soft. She couldn’t allow her children to have too much freedom, to question too much, the Clave would not be as indulgent this time around. But the relief in the boy’s face when she had promised that she’d eat as soon as she had the time to cook stopped her from regretting it. He was so kind, her boy. It was a shame he would have to lose that. A hazard of the job, sadly.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she turned towards it, curtly ordening them to enter. It had better be important, she had specifically requested not to be bothered.

The door opened and Maryse’s face softened a little.

“Alec, shouldn’t you be looking after Isabelle?” she asked trying to mask her surprise in disapproval. The boy was hardly ever two feet away from his baby sister, enamored as he had been since the first moment he saw her.

“She’s here,” Alec exclaimed, looking to his right with an encouraging smile.

So Alec had, once again, acted as the vanguard. Maryse should have known. Isabelle wasn’t shy, she didn’t have any trouble charming visiting delegates from the Clave or running towards her father’s arms. But she always sent Alec to make the first contact with Maryse, she never went to her on her own. It shouldn’t hurt really. Maryse knew Robert openly adored her and spoiled her when she wasn’t looking. It was just natural she prefered him.

Izzy stumbled into the room, her hands full with a bowl as wide as her shoulders. Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she unsteadily made her way towards Maryse’s desk.

“Alexander! Why are you letting your sister carry this much weight?” she scolded, alarmed. The boy straightened up and opened his mouth to answer.

“It’s okay,” Isabelle interrupted stubbornly maintaining his route. “I’m a big, strong shadowhunter, mama, see?” She clumsily placed the plate over a very important Clave missive, the overflowing brownish substance in it splashing all the documents on her desk.

“What is the meaning of this?” she asked, trying not to raise her voice.

“Diner!” Alec said looking adorably proud of himself. “You don’t have to waste time making it because we did.” At his side Isabelle nodded furiously.

“You did this?” repeated Maryse dumbfounded.

“And we cleaned the kitchen afterwards,” quickly added Alec, eagerly searching her face for a reaction. “I also brought you a fork!”

And what else could she do but accept it.

“Try it, try it,” Isabelle urged.

It was awful. No, it was worse than that. Really she had never eaten something as foul as this. And she had been on war and on the run for months. Yet she couldn’t help but take another bite. And another. And another. Until the plate was completely empty. Her children were still looking at her eagerly, waiting for her to say something. Those two precious kids that had spend who knows how many hours making this for her. Because they didn’t see her as a gifted child, nor as a former traitor. They just saw their mom and they wanted her to be happy.

“So? How was it?” demanded Isabelle who did not have her brother’s patience.

Maryse couldn’t help the smile that brightened her face.

“Delicious.”

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to base Maryse coping mechanism on Alec and Jace’s (and Izzy’s to a lesser extense) I hope it came out okay. Please tell mme what you thought on the comments or leave kudos.


End file.
